01 Oct 2013

SADC governments including Botswana have been hailed for showing emphasis and priority to the development of communication infrastructure.

Officiating at the regional telecommunication/ICTs terrestrial backhaul and submarine networks meeting, the coordinator of E-Government, Mr Ronald Ridge said telecommunication is vital not only for growth but also helps countries to remain competitive within the increasingly information oriented global economy.

He said studies have shown that the development of telecommunication aids in economic development improves the effectiveness of social and emergency services and distribute cultural and economic benefits more equitably. He said failure to develop telecommunication will only increase the development gap between the countries and the developed world commonly referred to as “digital Divide”.

Mr Ridge noted that despite the recognition that telecommunication is a catalyst for growth, improved communication generally has not been a central investment focus in most of the developing countries. He said telecommunication without infrastructure clearly inhibits economic growth and pointed out that other conditions must be present in order to enable a country obtain greater benefits from telecommunication.

Mr Ridge mentioned conditions such as human and capital investment as well as other infrastructure investment like electricity, water and roads. He acknowledged that in Botswana, networks have widely spread in recent years and that many people including in low income communities now have access to fixed and mobile phones. He said the service is providing significant value, especially where family members live apart.

The coordinators said meetings like telecommunication gives operators to share challenges and come up with best solutions that can provide broader arrays of services to improve the support Southern African Telecommunication Association (SATA) operators provide to the development of their respective nations.

Mr Ridge observed that quality service is paramount and must be ensured by minimizing outages and reducing the time to repair faults especially on submarine cables. SATA invited regional and international submarine cable experts to come and share experiences with operators a factor in which Mr Ridge noted that it is encouraged and espoused by SADC governments. 

He believed that their deliberation as experts and professionals in communication will narrow the gap on rural connectivity as many people live in rural areas with limited access to most of the telecommunication services.

The objective of the meeting was to ensure that intra SADC voice and data/internet traffic remain in the region and SADC national backbones and access networks are developed and connected to the submarine cable landing stations. The SADC member states had an opportunity to share ideas, achievements, challenges and opportunities.

The executive secretary of SATA, Mr Jacob Munodawafa said the meeting would give them an opportunity to address issues of concern. he also noted that it would provides a good opportunity for them to discuss, how they can fully interconnect their countries and to the rest of the world adding that some countries are step ahead in the connectivity.

He said operators do have skills challenges and assured the gathering that SATA will continue to cooperate with the relevant stakeholder sand other agencies to organize workshops on IP-related issues, mobile technologies, optical fibre transmission technologies, local access technologies, and Next Generation Networks. ENDS